Frictionless communication, key to the adoption of "social care"?

Social care startup Twelephone connects companies to
customers through browser-based chat. With a simple link or web widget,
companies can receive calls without customers downloading any software.
Reducing friction for brand-customer interaction might be key in the
adoption of social care.

As the “social care”
trend continues to grow, customers will be expecting companies to
provide prompt and full-featured customer service via social networks.
One startup that hopes to provide for these companies is Twelephone,
which gives corporate Twitter users a way to voice or video chat with
their customers. When a customer has a problem, question or comment
regarding a company’s product or service, they may soon find an @mention
from that company with a link to a chat session that takes place within
their browser. Twelephone works through the WebRTC project, “which enables Web browsers with Real Time Communications capabilities via simple Javascript APIs” and HTML5.Direct interaction with customers through Twitter
Customers receive the Twelephone link from a company that they have
contacted or posted about, and by clicking it they enter a peer-to-peer
communication session. These conversations are private and encrypted,
and available in high-definition. Companies install an extension that
manages Twitter presence and routes inbound calls, with their Twitter
handle serving as their Twelephone number. The WebRTC functionality is
currently available for Chrome, but plans to expand to Firefox and
Opera. With Twelephone integration, customers can see a Call option
directly on the Twitter profile page.Reducing barriers for brand-customers interaction
Users, or customers, do not need to install the Twelephone Chrome
extension in order to use their service. All they need is the link they
receive from a company (or that may be in the company Twitter profile or
stream), or to use the CallMe widget on the corporate website. So the
adoption barrier relies mostly on Twelephone clients, in respect to
their willingness to install the Chrome browser or the speed of WebRTC
deployment to other browsers. The Chrome extension is necessary for
clients to use the service to receive calls, as well as other features.
Company call receivers will see incoming calls with Twitter usernames,
if available, and will soon be able to use more robust features, such as
multiple call distribution.